The Enemies Closer to Home
by Gamma Jack Plasmius
Summary: Chapter 3: An amnesiac supervillain recently turned ghost arrives in Amity Park, and comes to the mistaken conclusion that Danny Phantom is his old enemy.
1. Robbers and 'Rangs

_First off, yes, I have gotten permission from Moss Royal to continue this story in his absence, so don't worry. Second, I've made no alterations, except maybe some spell-checking and a change to the very end of Chapter Two._

_Thirdly, thanks to Sandersonsgirl411 and robtitan for reviewing my **"Life's A Box and Then You Die!"** fiction. It came out pretty well for an 'off-the-top-of-my-head' idea._

**Disclaimer**: Danny Phantom and all related characters and gimmicks belong to Mr. Hartman; the villain at this chapter's end was created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino.

_And the adventure continues…

* * *

_

**"I will always attempt to do the right thing, even if it means killing every man, woman and child in this here town...twice over."**

_-Jonah Hex from DC Comics

* * *

_

"You never learn, do you Technus?"

"Laugh while you can, whelp! I'll be back! I'll **always** be back!" the tech specter warned just before he vanished into the Fenton Thermos in a brilliant flash of blue light.

"He **does **never learn," Danny muttered, his earlier question answered indirectly. He flew down to an alley along the street and prepared to change back to human when a thundering, shrill noise rang through the air. At first he thought it might be his parents in the GAV with some new Ghost Detection Device, but a few seconds later he doused that theory as he realized that it was a bank alarm.

"A robbery?" he questioned aloud. He went invisible and poked his head around the alley corner to find another of his questions revealed without answer.

Two masked men with full bags in their one hand (It didn't take a genius to figure out what they were filled with.) and what appeared to be ecto-guns in their others were making a break for their car and getting ready to drive off.

"Get the damn thing goin'; we gotta get outta here!" the one in the passenger seat ordered.

"Oh, shut up! I know that!" the driver warned, and half a second later the engine was roaring and they were tearing across the blacktop. Danny could hear police sirens already heading for them, and he decided his change to human would have to wait.

"Lancer's gonna eat me alive," he mumbled, not wanting to know how late for school he'd be, and took to the air after the pursuit.

The crook driver obviously didn't care much for driver's etiquette, having almost run over a fire hydrant and an old lady with her small dog in under thirty seconds. Danny picked up speed, went invisible and caught up with the car.

"Normally, I leave the human bad guys to the human police, but in this case, I'll make an exception," he declared; making himself intangible, he phased into the car and overshadowed the other robber in the passenger seat.

"Take a left here," he ordered.

"Got it," the driver obeyed, leaving Danny grateful that not only had the driver not noticed the change in his partner's voice, but also that he'd overshadowed the leader instead of the flunky.

"Hey, what's the deal!" the driver yelled, bringing Danny out of his thoughts. "This street's a dead end! Nice going!" The driver raised his hand to strike him over the head, but Danny stopped it in midair. He couldn't help but smile as the crook's look of anger turned into surprise and confusion.

But fear became his main emotion as the driver observed his partner's eyes were glowing green. Danny phased out of the passenger crook, and, still intangible, brought himself and the driver out of the car and into the street before the quickly approaching police cars.

"Actually, I think it was very nice goin'," Danny agreed contently, holding the criminal still. "Now I just have to deal with-" His triumph faded as he looked to the car and saw that the robber he'd overshadowed was gone, along with one of the two sacks of cash.

"I'm sorry. You were saying?" the driver asked smugly, a smirk visible even through his mask.

"Oh, shut up..."

* * *

"I'm not crazy, boss! I saw it right in front o' me! It was a friggin' ghost! It grabbed Rob and handed him over to the cops!" the other robber explained hysterically over his cellphone. 

"I never said you were crazy, Mr. Ferguson. In fact, I believe you," his boss responded in a calm, British accent.

"Yeah, I know, but- Wait. You believe me?"

"Certainly. I'd heard tell of this Ghost Boy before, and your experience definitely acknowledges his existence, correct?" the boss asked.

"Uh, right," Ferguson answered, wishing his boss wouldn't use such big words. "Is that why you gave us these weird guns?"

"Exactly, my good man. Just in case. Now tell me exactly what happened."

"Well, like I said before, most of it was a blur. Rob was drivin'; tryin' to get away from the cops. Then everything goes black, and next thing I know, there's this green-eyed, white-haired kid in black floatin' in front o' me! He grabbed Rob, just went through the car and handed 'im over."

"And you escaped while the child dealt with Robert, I presume?" finished the boss.

"Yeah, pretty much. I couldn't grab all the money, or I'da gotten caught. But I did grab one sack o' the cash," Ferguson said, hoping it would make up for the capture of his partner.

"How much?"

"Uh, 'bout thirty thousand, give or take."

"Hmm, a tad less than I'd hoped, but it'll do. Good work, get back here quickly before someone sees you."

"Right, thanks boss. Oh, but, uh-" Ferguson stammered as a thought came to his mind.

"What, Ferguson?" the accented voice sounded.

"What about Rob? He's not exactly dependable; if it gets bad, he may blow the whistle on both of us."

"Oh, please don't insult me, Mr. Ferguson," the boss answered, slightly amused. "You don't think that I wouldn't have thought of that, did you?"

"Uh, no, just bein' safe is all."

"Good; don't worry about Robert, he's going to be very tight-lipped very soon," the boss chuckled.

"Oh, that's good," Ferguson stated, relieved and rather creeped out. "What are you gonna do?"

"My dear Mr. Ferguson, I've already done it..."

* * *

"Welcome to class, Mr. Fenton. Dare I ask what the excuse is this time?" Mr. Lancer asked. 

"No excuse, Mr. Lancer. I was just...disorganized," Danny said, keeping as close to the truth as possible.

"Disorganization rarely leads to being twenty minutes late for class, Mr. Fenton. Maybe detention after school will help you realize that," explained the English teacher.

"Yes, sir," Danny complied, trying to ignore Dash and the other jocks' snickers from the back of the room as he took a seat next to Tucker and Sam. They turned to him quietly as Lancer continued talking.

"Rough morning?" asked Tucker. Danny just glared at him. "Sorry; standard question. Who was it? Ember? Skulker? Technus?"

"It started off as Technus before it turned into a police chase."

"Police chase?" asked Sam, fearing that perhaps the guys in blue had been after him, again.

"After I beat Technus, two masked goons with ecto-guns robbed the bank and drove off."

"You're kidding?" interrogated Tucker, aghast. "A bank robbery? In **this** town?"

"Yeah, the biggest human crime around here lately was Freakshow," Sam pointed out, "and even that had to do with ghosts."

"Don't remind me." Danny shivered, having several memories of the Goth clown shaking up his mind like a snow globe.

"Mr. Foley, Ms. Manson," shouted Lancer, "unless you wish to join Mr. Fenton after school, I suggest you be quiet and pay attention to me, not to him."

The three all complied and faced forward, ignoring the further snickers from Dash. But Danny gave his friends a nod that said he'd fill them in later.

* * *

"I still can't believe it," said Tucker as they entered the Fenton abode. "An honest-to-God bank heist with no ghosts or anything!" 

"But they did have ecto-guns," Sam pointed out, laying her books and backpack on the floor next to the couch.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean anything. They probably knew about our ghost problem and just wanted some insurance," stated Danny.

"Maybe," agreed Sam, "but where did they get them? Ghost fighting equipment isn't exactly sold at your local hardware store."

Before any of them could expand on the idea, Jazz came running in, looking both worried and excited.

"Danny, quick!" she yelled, and then more quietly, so their parents wouldn't hear her. "You're on TV." The four rushed to the kitchen where the television was held, and Jack and Maddie Fenton were both watching intently.

"Danny!" boomed Jack. "You're just in time! There's some news here on the Ghost Kid!"

"Ssh!" scolded both Maddie and Jazz, wanting a decent listen.

_"This is Tiffany Snow. Amity Park has usually been rocked more by the scarier ghost threats than actual,living crime, but today that changed as two masked gunmen stood up and robbed Amity Bank and drove off. They were stopped by the Ghost Boy, Danny Phantom, who managed to capture the driver, but failed to apprehend the other robber who made off with nearly thirty thousand dollars."_

"Leave it to a ghost to botch an arrest," muttered Jack, unaware of the four young glares he got in return.

_"The driver is in custody and has been identified as Robert Hanson, previously wanted for several counts of breaking and entering and robbery. Lance Thunder has more. Lance?"_

_"Tiffany,"_ the blond weatherman (and temporary reporter) appeared on screen, _"I'm here with Officer Perry who was in charge of Mr. Hanson's interrogation for the location of his partner. Can I ask what happened, Officer?"_

_"It was the strangest thing I'd ever seen. We were breakin' him down; he was willin' to tell us where the other robber would be and even the mastermind behind the crime, when we heard this little beep."_

_"Excuse me, 'a beep'?"_ Lance clarified.

_"Yeah, like a microwave or a computer. Just one little beep. Next thing we know, he clutches his head, screamin' in pain for whatever it is to stop. Then, just like that, he goes dead silent and stares off into space."_

_"And this hasn't changed, I take it?" _

_"Not a bit. We've tried splashin' water in his face; bringin' him food; even blowin' an airhorn in his ear, but he just sits there, still as a log, like he's brain-dead."_

_"Strange. So you don't think this is just an act?"_ asked Lance.

_"In my professional opinion: no. I checked this guy's record, and he doesn't strike me as a guy who'd be that smart or that good an actor. We've called in a doctor, see if we can find a way to help him."_

_"If, in fact, he's actually hurt?"_ said Lance.

_"Right."_ agreed the officer.

_"Thank you, Officer Perry. This is Lance Thunder. Tiffany?"_

The rest of the news just became background noise as the Fenton family and friends spoke up.

"Talk about weird," muttered Jazz.

"Yeah," Danny said under his breath. "It's like someone didn't want him to talk."

"Well, whatever his problem is, it's nothing the Fenton Cattle Prod can't fix!" yelled Jack, jumping up from his chair. "Come on, Maddie! Grab the Prod and we'll get down to that police station!"

"Uh, Dad?" interrupted Danny. "Not that I care, but why would you want with the driver? It's not like he's a ghost."

"No, sweetie, but he might have something to do with that Phantom boy," Maddie explained, entering the room with Prod.

"Why else would he suddenly start handling human criminals?" Jack questioned.

"I have no idea," mumbled Danny truthfully.

"All right, let's shake a tailfeather, mama!" Jack grabbed the Prod from Maddie and hurried to the GAV.

"Oh, and kids," Maddie said, running after Jack, "there are some leftover hot dogs in the fridge; feel free to help yourselves!"

"Great," Jazz said sarcastically, once their parents had left, "another encounter with the Frankenfurters."

"We have more important things to worry about Jazz. Like finding the brains behind that robbery," said Danny.

"Why? The police can handle it."

"Jazz, nothing against the police, but if I hadn't stepped in when I did, somebody would be street pizza right now. And if this guy's partner and boss is still out there, that means they're gonna strike again."

Jazz, Sam and Tucker just stared at him.

"What?" he asked. "A guy can't fight evil every other day and figure out howthey think?"

"Well, no," agreed Tucker, "but we didn't expect that guy to be you."

"Thanks, real confidence builder."

* * *

_Two days later_

"So not one thing's changed with this Hanson guy?" asked Sam, as the quad made their way to school. (Since the robbery, Jazz had considered it best if she followed Danny for a while.)

"Nope. Nothing. My parents have tried everything from the Fenton Cattle Prod to the Fenton Bear Trap and nothing seems to snap him out of whatever he's in."

"So either he's really patient **and** resistant to injury or he's lost it," Jazz deduced.

Before Danny could reply, they heard a gigantic blast from a few blocks down. Sam, Tucker and Jazz all looked to Danny.

"No Ghost Sense going off," he observed.

"And that means-" continued Sam.

"Oh no, you've gotta be kidding me. Another one..again?"

"But the bank's back over there," said Jazz, pointing behind them.

"Bank or not..I'm goin' ghost!" he screamed; two white halos surrounded his waist and spread towards his head and feet, until Danny Fenton was replaced by Danny Phantom. "You guys get to school; I can handle this!"

"What about Lancer?" questioned Tucker.

"Lie!" And with that, Danny flew off, leaving them to salvage what could have been a relatively normal day.

"This isn't right," whispered Sam.

"Yeah, I know, now we're gonna have Lancer breathing down our necks!" complained Tucker.

"I don't think that's what she meant," informed Jazz.

"I meant that Danny has enough trouble dealing with ghosts and schoolwork..."

"-and housework," added Jazz.

"He shouldn't have to deal with human criminals; that's not his responsibility," Sam concluded.

"Try tellin' him that," remarked Tucker.

As much as the girls hated to admit it, Tucker had a point.

* * *

Whoever they were, they were hitting the 24K Jewelry store. The entire front of the building was in flames and terrified 'patrons' were running away as fast as they could.

"You blasted idiot!" an Australian sounding voice insulted from inside. "I told you, never touch my 'rangs! You don't know how to use 'em!"

Danny went intangible and entered the barely stable establishment, eavesdropping on the conversation as he got steadily closer.

"I'm sorry, boss-"

"Captain, you idiot, **Captain!**" the Australian corrected.

"Sorry, Captain, but that old dude behind the counter was ready to shoot! If I hadn't used it, we'd all be dead or arrested by now!"

"Fine! Just grab what 'cha can and get to the van!"

"I don't think so!" Danny cried, appearing before them, now able to see clearly. And he was pretty surprised at what he saw.

For starters, he'd expected more than just three guys to be there, but the real head-scratcher was the bizarre dress code of who he assumed was the boss. He wore a blue trenchcoat that covered a dark blue shirt and black leather pants. His hands were protected by black, fingerless gloves; his torso encircled by a black sash; a thin, white scarf around his neck and a small, blue military hat that barely hid his medium brown hair. The arms, the sash and the front of his hat were lined with small, white boomerangs.

"G'day, mate! Been lookin' forward to meetin' you!" the 'Captain' exclaimed.

"Uh, Captain, I don't think this is the time for-" one henchmen advised.

"Shut up and get the van outta here! I'll take care o' this pup!"

"But sir, you can't handle-"

"What'd I just say, punk? **I said bugger off!**" the Captain ordered.

"Yes, sir." And he and the other lacky, who'd been smart enough to keep his mouth shut, rushed to the back exit with whatever they could carry.

"Uh, you do realize I can't let them leave," Danny said, ready to pursue the pair.

"Oh, don't worry about those idgits; you got more important things to worry about!" the Captain warned, as he unlatched a boomerang from his left sleeve, and threw it towards Danny. Danny smiled and became intangible.

"Uh, dude, don't know if you knew this, but I'm a ghost, I can just phase through-**Aaagghhh!**" Danny's speech was cut short as the boomerang came in contact with where his body had just been and exploded, somehow blasting him and knocking him to the ground.

"How did you--w-what was **that**!" Danny yelled, his body aching where he'd been blasted.

"Like it? Apparently when one o' you spooks go all feel-through, ya leave a unique energy signal behind. And my l'il boomers lock right onto that and blow right through ya! Solid or not! I call 'em my 'Boo-Boom Boomerangs'."

"Kinda redundant name, isn't it?" posed Danny as he regained his stance.

"Meh, gets the job done though. Not only did I get you nice, but it gave the perfect distraction for my wingnuts to get outta here," he said, pointing behind him, where the exit door lay ajar.

Danny frowned, mentally kicking himself. "All right, I gotta admit you're a lot smarter than you look."

"Thanks, l'il Dan, though I thought you'd be a better challenge."

"Oh, don't worry. My first impressions are usually that way." He blasted a ghost ray at the Captain, who immediately dislodged another boomerang and tossed it at the ray. Both collided and cancelled each other out, but knocked both hero and villain back from the force. As Danny regained himself, he noticed that the ceiling above them was starting to give way. Ash and bits of wood were starting to fall from the ceiling.

"Listen!" Danny called to the Captain. "This whole place is going down! I can get us both outta here if you surrender!"

"Sorry, l'il Dan! Never on a first date!" he quipped, throwing another boomerang right for him.

"Okay, you forced me to do this!" Danny went intangible and phased through the floor so the flying explosive just met with the floor. He traveled behind the Captain, and flew into his body, gaining control of him. That is, until he heard laughter...coming from inside the Captain's head.

_"Sorry, mate. But this l'il hat o' mine's more than a fashion accessory!"_ With only that as a warning, Danny was suddenly shocked from within the Captain, causing him to lose his control and ghost back out of the Captain's body in a daze.

The Captain stood over him and smirked. "By the way, name's Captain Boomerang. See ya around, l'il Dan, or not!" And with that 'charming' introduction, he kicked Danny square in the face and escaped though the smoke and flames.

"This is really not my day," Danny groaned. But his pains took a backseat when the last of the building's stability went and the ceiling began to collapse. Going intangible just in time, he ghosted though the descending building and took to the air. He looked down over the store. The shop was in ruins; the thieves got away; he was battered in a million different places and the fumes and flames just kept roaring on up to the sky.

"Great. Now the brain-dead bank robber is the least of my worries..."

* * *

_And there's Chapter One, with just a few stitches here and there for me to add my homey GJP touches. Chapter Two should be up soon since I'll just have to edit a few things, but Chapter Three will be the first 'totally-me' chapter, so it should be a tad longer._


	2. Heart of Ice Queen

_Hello again, except for the slight change to the ending and the odd spell-check, Moss Royal gets credit for this chapter. But after this, it's all me!_

_Thanks to MoonrockBlink1772, for reviewing Chapter One. I'm happy to see that you enjoyed (what soon will be my) work._

_And if you want some more good reads, might I advise WingsOfMorphius' new fic, **'Father of My Son'** or imekitty's **'The Luckiest Girl in the World.'**_

**Disclaimer**: Butch owns DP; Gerry Conway and Al Milgrom created this chapter's villain. Mrs. Calvin and Brucey are Moss Royal's creations; I have his permission to use them.

* * *

"**Valuing life is not weakness and disregarding it is not strength."**

_-Mirage from 'The Incredibles'

* * *

_

Danny ate his cereal very slowly the next morning, glad that it was a Saturday as his body was still aching and he hadn't gotten much sleep due to worrying about Captain Boomerang. He hadn't even noticed that he'd put orange juice into his Raisin Bran until it was too late.

"Ugh, gross! That's just...not bad, really," he reviewed, taking a few more spoonfuls.

"Just when I thought you couldn't get any weirder," muttered Jazz through her morning coffee and blueberry muffin.

"Humor me, Jazz. The last few days have been really rough. Although I guess I should be grateful that no ghost has bothered me besides Technus."

"Morning, kids!" Jack greeted in his usual, chipper, goofy manner.

"Morning, Dad. Morning, Mom," Jazz replied as Maddie entered the room in a much less ecstatic mood than her husband.

"How's it going with that Hanson crook?" asked Danny, glad he could get somewhat valuable info without arousing suspicion.

"Ugh, lousy," mumbled Maddie, "not a word or a rogue blink from him."

"But on the plus side, the police finally let us take out that punk's weapon for analysis," mentioned Jack.

"I thought the partner grabbed both of them when he ran off," said Danny.

"No, sweetie, he just got away with his and a good share of the money."

"And just take a looky at this, kids!" Jack cried excitedly, pulling out Hanson's ecto-gun, and holding it before them.

"Looks like an ordinary ecto-gun," rated Danny, "if you call that ordinary."

"Yeah, but look harder," Jack said, turning the gun so they could see the underside of it. A few inches ahead of the trigger lay a small, black doodad.

"A switch?" Danny and Jazz asked in unison.

"Mm-hmm, and would ya look at what it does!" Jack flipped the switch, causing the gun to emit a low buzzing sound, and the top of the gun opened up. The ecto-ammo disappeared into the gun and was replaced by a different type of ammo that slid into its slot perfectly. "BAZAII!" Jack fired the gun at his empty chair and a thin bluish-red beam fried a small, but clear hole through it.

"Jack!" "Dad!" came both Maddie and Jazz's voices.

"Hey, wait a minute," said Danny, looking over at the hole. "That wasn't an ecto-blast."

"That's right, son! It's a laser gun now; intended for people, instead of ghosts! It's two guns in one! HA HA!"

"But where did they get those things? We don't even have that sort of technology," observed Danny.

"That, Danny, is what we're trying to find out," stated Jack.

"After all, average thieves don't know how to make this sort of thing, so whoever they're working for must be pretty voiced on the subject," Maddie assumed.

"Oh boy," muttered Danny.

"All right, enough about the criminal workings," said Jazz, not wanting her little brother getting too worked up about evil scientists. "Let's see what's on TV."

Unfortunately, Jazz's intentions were snuffed out as Tiffany Snow came on with a new crime having just taken place.

"_It seems that ghosts truly have become the least of our worries as Amity Park has recently become a hot spot for criminal activity. The works of Rob Hanson and his accomplice robbing Amity Bank this past Wednesday, and the so far unknown assailant and arson of the 24K Jewelry Store seem to have foreshadowed another attack. But was this attacker ghost or human? Lance Thunder has more."_

The camera changed to Lance, standing beside a very terrified looking, elderly woman wearing a towel around her shivering body and a hot water bottle over her head. Danny instantly recognized her as the poor woman with the dog that Hanson had almost run over in the big chase.

"_Tiffany. I'm here with Mrs. Calvin, the unfortunate victim of what appears to be the newest breed of criminal in our town. Mrs. Calvin, would you be able to tell us what happened?"_

"_Y-yes,"_ she chattered, appearing to be on the verge of tears. _"I-I was taking my little dog, B-Brucey, for our m-morning walk. I was g-going to pick up s-some more dog food f-for him. We had just crossed the street that c-connected t-to the grocery store, when-when **she** came-came out of n-nowhere. She walked up t-to us, with this hideous, h-horrible grin on her f-face. She d-didn't say anything; she just-just raised her hand t-to us, and the next thing I-I know...the-there's ice! Ice everywhere! M-my feet were frozen t-to the sp-pot. And Brucey, h-he ran up to that-that monster, and s-started barking at her t-to go away and leave us alone! And s-she-she j-just laughed at him and then she-she..."_

The tears Mrs. Calvin had been holding back broke lose and she just cried out and wept in pain. She didn't need to finish the sentence, though; the camera showed it. And every Fenton, as did many other viewers, I'm sure, gasped at what they saw.

Brucey, the small, loyal dog that just wanted to protect its mistress, was frozen solid in jagged ice. Lifeless and paused in the moment of barking at its foe.

"_Mrs. Bruce?"_ asked Lance. _"I have no idea how hard this must be, but if you could describe this villain to the people at home..."_

"_O-of course,"_ she pressed on through sniffles and shivers. _"I'll never f-forget her face, as l-long as I live, n-never. Her skin was p-pale, deathly p-pale; her hair was a d-dark blue a-and short and w-was m-matted down right against her-her head. S-she wore blue gloves and b-boots and some sort of swimsuit or j-jumpsuit or s-something that ended just below her sh-sh-shoulders with w-white ice m-markings around the ch-chest. Sh-she was smallish, t-too. Not tiny, but st-still s-s-small. But h-her eyes-her eyes! The pupils a-and irises were completely bla-black, no c-colour or an-anything! And the rest o-of it, where the whites o-of the eyes are sup-supposed to be, they-they were all b-blue! She couldn't be human! She's some sort of d-demon! No person could ever kill my-"_ Mrs. Calvin stopped again as her sobs interrupted her and she turned her back to the camera.

"_A demon to be sure,"_ agreed Lance. _"Police, firemen and even other concerned citizens are hunting for this force-freezing monster, intent on making her pay for this atrocity. And in an earlier conversation with Mrs. Calvin, she was asked several questions to determine this woman's 'living position'. Although she displayed powerful blasts of ice, and certain physical characteristics, there was no other evidence to confirm her state. Now two questions lie before us? Is this creature human? And where will she strike next? This...is Lance Thunder."_

Just like a few days before, the rest of the news became pointless, tuned-out racket as the Fenton family shook their heads in sympathy and pain.

"That poor woman," whispered Maddie, looking not far away from crying herself. "She must be so scared..."

"Come on, Maddie," Jack ordered, rising from his chair.

"Come on where?"

"We're goin' out there to find that frozen freak, and bring her to justice! Ghost or no ghost, I'll be damned if we're just gonna sit here while something like that walks the streets!"

"Good idea, Jack," she said, smiling warmly at him. "Kids, if you see that...thing, hide down in the lab and call us at the Fenton GAV. We're headin' out!" She and Jack both pulled their jumpsuit hoods over their faces and headed off to grab whatever Fenton gear they could use.

"I can't believe anyone could do something like that, ghost or not," mumbled Jazz.

"Jazz, if anyone asks, I'm up in my room," Danny said, running for the stairs.

"What? Danny, no! It's too dangerous!" Jazz knew all too well what her brother planned to do.

"Yeah, it is. But if this thing's a ghost, then it's my responsibility. And even if it isn't a ghost, I still have to stop it. Besides, I've faced ice wielding bad guys before."

"Yes, but that was a miserable, pajama-wearing ghost who wanted friends. This is some jumpsuited psychopath who from the sound of it, just wants to hurt things."

"And that's why I'm going." And before Jazz could say anything else, he phased through the ceiling. Looking over his town, he concentrated on the ectoplasm surging through his body, and two familiar white halos appeared and completed his transformation. "I've got some hunting to do."

Jazz watched him fly off through the nearest window, and then rushed down to the lab. She opened the Weapons' Vault, grabbed the Fenton Foamer and one of her Mom's blue hazmat suits and rushed out the door after Danny.

'_You said that as if you actually believed I wouldn't follow you,'_ she scoffed to herself.

* * *

"Come on, where are you?" Danny asked in exasperation. He'd been searching for more than an hour and hadn't found anything. "People like that don't just up and disappear...Well, if she's a ghost she can, I guess." 

He was about to head back and check another part of town when he was hit from behind by a mountainous pillar of ice, knocking him flat on the sidewalk below. He slowly raised his head to find the woman that perfectly matched Mrs. Calvin's description. The hair, the eyes, the clothes all fit. And she was standing on a rising path of ice that she was making with her hands.

He waited for the chill and the well known, blue breath to float out from his mouth, but there was nothing aside the slight chill from the ice that had hit him.

"So you're not a ghost," he confirmed.

"Sorry, Dan doll, but I'm a hundred percent alive, 'least on the outside, anyway." She blasted more ice from her hands to finish a path to the ground in front of Danny.

"Then what are you? And- wait, you know me, too?" Thinking back to Captain Boomerang's initial reaction to him.

"Kinda hard not to notice a ghost boy hero when just about every other ghost in this town is evil and destructive, now is it? And as to your first question, that depends on your standing. Some call me a mutant or a gifted individual; some say I'm a weather bender or an ice queen, but most: most just call me a freak."

"I wonder why," he said sarcastically, rising to face her. "You're not exactly popular around here, lady."

"Why, because I fragged some old bat's precious mutt?"

"Yes, that's it," he replied, trying to keep his control. "You sound beat up about it."

"Death is death, Dan doll; doesn't matter who does it." Sick of talking, she shot an ice blast at Danny.

He went intangible to evade it, but when he felt a strange sensation in his feet, he looked down and saw that his feet were freezing to the sidewalk while he was still intangible. "Dah!" He fired a ghost ray at his feet to break the ice and became tangible again. He glared at the woman, who had stopped freezing at him and was just smirking unemotionally at his reaction.

"How did you do that? It should've gone right through me!"

"You should listen more closely, doll. Like I said, death is death, so therefore, life is life. Human or ghost; solid or otherwise, I can freeze it. You're just the same as any other person to me." She fired another blast at him; this time he dodged it and took to the air. He fired a ghost ray at her which she just canceled out with her ice.

"I'm Killer Frost, Dan doll, and I'm the last thing you're gonna see!"

She created a new ice path and blasted it up to Danny so she was level with him, and fired another blast. Danny expanded his midsection to leave a huge hole for the blast to go through, and then sped off further over town with Killer Frost hot, though not literally, on his heels; firing ice blast after ice blast after him. As he zigged and zagged to avoid them, he had to reluctantly commend Frost for her skill. She was able to keep firing blasts while simultaneously making more ice for her walkway (or slideway, in this case) and keeping her balance. And as he weaved from different blasts, he noticed that they were drastically upsetting life below them, big surprise.

The fact that people had stopped what they were doing to watch them was one thing, and stray blasts from Frost were hitting everything from mailboxes to Volkswagens.

"I've gotta find a way to stop her quick," he thought aloud, when an idea came to him. Without warning, he flew down below where Frost had already made an ice path and blasted at it, causing it to crumble, so the path Frost was on fell. Thinking quickly, she jumped off her current ice support and fired another ice blast to create a pillar for her to land on.

As she regained her balance, she locked her eyes on to Danny just before he punched her square in the nose. The force knocked her off her pillar and sent her plummeting to the street below. Using all the speed he could muster, Danny flew down under her and caught her, and brought the two down to earth.

"I think that's enough," stated Danny sternly.

"Really? I don't!" Taking advantage of his favor, she blasted Danny in the face, freezing almost all of his head.

"Oh, great," he muttered in a muffled tone, and fired a ghost ray at his own head to shatter the ice. He looked back to Killer Frost, who was just smiling and shaking her head in mock disappointment.

"You really think you can stop me, don't you? Sorry, but you can't. 'Cause unlike you, I can keep this up forever, and when you tire out, you and every other living thing in this town'll be in a frozen tomb!"

"Why?"

"Death makes me happy. Why's never been a question."

"Sorry you feel that way. Then I've got no other choice." Flying right at her, he went intangible, planning to overshadow her, but when he met her body, he just bounced right off her and fell backwards.

"What was that?"

"Insurance, in case you tried that possession trick. My suit emits a low-level radiation that'll keep you from any...intimate contact with me. And now-" Before she could finish, they both heard a small buzzing and the next thing they knew, Frost was covered in ecto-goo.

"Yuck! What is this crud!" she yelled, trying to get it out of her face. Danny looked to his left and saw a thin figure in a blue hazmat dash away down the street.

"Jazz," he muttered. "Have to thank her later, but right now-"

He raised back to his feet, charged a ghost ray into his hand and punched Frost in the nose again; the force of the blow causing her to lose her balance and fall back in an unconscious mess. Danny was so relieved that it was over that he didn't even hear the bystanders cheering him. He looked around and saw at least thirty people were there, chanting his name in unison.

"PHAN-TOM! PHAN-TOM! PHAN-TOM!"

The cheers were soon blocked out though when police cars and the Fenton GAV pulled up. Jack and Maddie were out instantaneously and surveyed the scene. Well, Maddie did anyway...

"GHOST!" roared Jack, pulling out the Fenton Bazooka and taking aim.

"Hey, wait!" a voice cried, and a teenage boy about Jazz's age stepped up. "He just saved our butts! He stopped that psycho ice witch!"

"Yeah, he's a hero!" another voice cried, and the crowd broke back out into their cheers.

Danny couldn't help but smile with pride as he flew off. His people were cheering him on; Killer Frost was being arrested and nobody had gotten hurt in the fight. But there was still one more thing he needed to do...

* * *

Mrs. Calvin sat on her couch, drinking a small cup of tea. She looked to the cushion to her right, where her little Brucey used to sit and lick gingerly at her hands for no particular reason. She missed that little guy. She'd gotten calls all day from everyone to the mayor to people on their way to work who wanted to say how sorry they were for her lost. It touched her; really, it did, but it didn't really fill the emptiness inside her or put out the fear that had been started by that monstrous woman. 

"Mrs. Calvin?" a youthful voice asked. She nearly spilled her tea as the voice had come out of the blue. She looked up to see a young man floating before her, with a strange black suit and glowing green eyes.

"Who are you? How d-did you get in here?" she asked, moving further into the couch.

"It's all right; I'm not gonna hurt you. I just wanted to let you know that we caught her."

"What?"

"The woman who attacked you, Killer Frost; she's been stopped and she's going to jail. You're safe now. Just wanted to let you know so you'd be sure," he said and floated towards the window.

"Oh, one more thing: If she ever escapes from prison, I'll be there to stop her, I promise."

The old woman just stared at him in response. He smiled grimly and then phased through the window. She looked after him as he glided over the city. Small tears fell from her eyes and she gently smiled.

"Thank you..."

* * *

A familiar Aussie gentleman sat in his warehouse lair, pondering over his recent brush with the Ghost Boy. He knew the kid had survived, that was a given, and although a bit wet behind the ears, he posed a decent challenge for the Captain. Maybe even more of a challenge than his legendary Central City opponent. 

Hell, why not take a stab at him? With a little initiative, this punk could do things that'd put the Fastest Man Alive to shame; that was certainly a better use of his time than a wise-cracking speedster. Now...he had to start planning; he could kill the kid himself...but what fun was there in that!

"You've never been a selfish one, George," he complimented himself. "Why not split the fun?"

But who to call? Mardon and Dillon were both pushing up daisies in outer space; _served 'em right for trusting nutcases like Luthor and Grodd._ Snart was still in jail and Scudder had…gone to pieces after the last run-in with their arch-foe.

He could call Jesse, but no, he wasn't about to put his good faith in a crook who needed pills every six hours just to think straight. Besides, in his right mind or not, Jesse was about as weak as a supervillain could get.

The Captain needed someone who not only shared his 'interests', but was at least mildly competent; skilled in whatever trade he or she had gone into.

That was when ol' Boomer got the perfect guy in mind. He didn't travel in his circles; hell, the two of them didn't even share the same postal code, but he'd seen some of this guy's work and hey, if he could cause problems for the Man of Steel, then why not the Teen of Ectoplasm?

He slid his chair into his desk and reached for the phone, immediately dialing up a Metropolis area code. The phone rang twice before it was answered.

"Hello, who, may I ask, is calling?" asked an eerily calm, rather unnerving voice.

"Winslow, you l'il tinkerer! Have I got a deal for you!"

* * *

_If you're a DC Comics fan, then you might know who 'Winslow' is, if not then you'll just have to wait. But I will fill you in on Captain Boomerang's aforementioned, rejected partner options:_

Mark **Mardon**-Weather Wizard

Roscoe **Dillon**-The Top

Leonard **Snart**-Captain Cold

Sam **Scudder**-Mirror Master

and James **Jesse**-The Trickster

_If you have any requests for a DC Comics villain to appear (including Teen Titans, Justice League, etc.) send it with a review. I'd relish posting some evil favourites!_


	3. Hunger Pains: Part One

_Finally! GJP has full and total control of the Quantum Keyboard he swiped from Ghost Writer! Sigh, if only… _

_Anyway, thanks to Ghostboy814, MoonrockBlink1772 and Tetsukon for reviewing; Pterodactyl for favoriting me and Flashx11, phantomshadowdragon and timydamonkey for adding me to their alert lists. Your support is much appreciated. _

**Disclaimer**: Butch Hartman owns Danny Phantom and all relations; this chapter's villain is an aspiring creation of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster; Flare is my own fabrication.

* * *

"**Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."**

_-George Santayana

* * *

_

Jones, Rudy Jones. That was his name once, wasn't it? Yes...yes, that had been his name long ago...before his accident.

He remembered being a janitor and not being able to make his economic ends meet. He had been forced to turn to crime; he had been forced to steal...something.

Then he turned into Parasite-No, wait! There was more before that; wasn't there? Chemicals...there were chemicals; that was it! He had attempted to make off with some chemicals but they-they spilled on him. Yes, he remembered! He remembered how scared he had been and how much pain he'd been in as the violet, unstable liquids had poured over him. And he had yelled-yelled at who? There had been someone else there; someone who'd been calling the shots; someone who had...who had left him there to die when the chemicals spilled.

"_You messed me up for the last time, you stupid, little parasite."_

Then what happened...Memories, there were so many memories flooding into his head all at once, so many that he couldn't sort them all out. He had found that he could use, no, absorb the different energies of people and manipulate them as his own. But time, time had been his weakness; he could only keep the energies for barely a day before they returned to their owners and then he was reduced to nothing again.

"_You hear that, Rudy, he's willing to sacrifice you!" _

Wait-who was that? That voice! He knew that voice; so many of his mixed-up memories contained that voice, but whose was it? It belonged to someone important, someone powerful; someone who had been trouble.

He racked his brains for a name, an image, anything that could identify the man with that voice, but nothing came forward.

Suddenly another rush of recall surged forth; he had been on a ship, and-and there were others there, too. Others like him, who had turned to crime, and there was a fight. A revolt or something? Yeah, that was it! Two people had divided them all; he'd been on the losing side, apparently. The last thread of that memory was a bluish woman and... ice and then it all ended.

But if it all ended then where was he now? He couldn't be alive; he sure didn't feel alive. In fact, he hardly felt anything at all. No warmth, no breath and no pulse. His eyes shot open as the last of the three dawned on him. If he had no pulse, then...he was over, dead, defeated, but why was he in this place?

"_The way I see it, you're dead either way."_

He looked around him and became overwhelmed and disoriented by his surroundings. He couldn't call it a world, for it seemed to have no sky or ground, or atmosphere, for that matter. Mind you, atmosphere would probably be the closest word to describe this place. There were doors, different doors hovering all through the area and green, swirling waves snaking their paths through the black, colorless air. He looked beyond the nearby doors and saw floating vessels; islands, buildings, castles, all suspended by unknown means.

He then looked to himself, and was surprised, despite the fact that he still had partial memories of his mutated form.

"_Don't you recognize me, Marty? It's your old doormat, Rudy Jones!"_

For starters, he was naked right down to his feet, but his glowing, purple skin, a bonus from the chemicals shrouded any 'indecencies'. His hair was gone, too; there didn't seem to be a single follicle on his body, which created an even further 'inhuman' effect. Also across his body were thick white lines, around his wrists, thighs, stomach and a large one winding across his chest to behind his neck. He was still slightly surprised, but relieved quickly as he remembered that this was how he'd been when he was alive. But there were other things, too, things he didn't remember.

He was glowing, not the light violet glow that he gave off when he absorbed people, but a pure white glow that coated his entire being. And he felt strange, as well, like he was incomplete or not fully formed; like only a part of him was there. As he examined himself, it was then that he realized that he, like everything else around him, was floating, but he wasn't even trying to; it was like it was natural, or supernatural, in this case.

"_That's how it is with a parasite; I can't keep what I take."_

_Rudy Jones, The Parasite_: created in an accident with unsteady chemicals, able to take a victim's energies with a single touch and died, frozen to death, on a spaceship for reasons he still didn't fathom. He had had an enemy, someone he still couldn't remember, but he would find him, steal his power and exact his old score. But to do that, he'd have to find a way back to Earth, which this place, this 'zone', most certainly wasn't.

* * *

"Mom, for the last time: I'm not wearing it!" 

"But Sammy-kins, you'd look so adorable in it!"

"Adorable like the 'meaningful, once-in-a-lifetime' adorable or adorable like 'the media's lewd perception of the female form' adorable?" Sam asked, looking for something in one of the mall's various clothing stores that she might actually consider wearing in public.

Her mother, Pam, sighed and draped the flowery, ankle-length sundress over her forearm, thinking that she could talk Sam into it later.

"Honestly, Sammy-kins, I don't know what your problem is with these darling, little dresses."

"How 'bout the fact that I **like** walking around without a bag over my head all day?" Sam stopped for a moment to look over a bracelet shaped like a tarantula, with the twisted legs meant to grip around the wrist.

"But, sweetie, you're always going on about how looks shouldn't truly matter and how people should think more of another's intelligence and spirit. Now unless you're going to admit that you're wrong..."

"I'm not wrong, Mom; too many people spend so much time perfecting the outside, that by the time they're actually happy with it they've got nothing desirable left on the inside."

"So you'll wear the dress then?" her mother inquired, holding it back up for Sam to see.

"Not a chance." Sam added the tarantula bracelet to her basket and then noticed a watch in the shape of a vampire bat with two sets of wings.

"How do you know that Danny wouldn't like it?" Pamela Manson inquired. She almost smirked when her daughter dropped the watch to the floor in surprise.

Sam quickly regained herself, and picked up the watch to see that it wasn't broken. "First off, he wouldn't like it, and second, it doesn't matter if he did, because we don't think of each other like that."

"Mm-hmm," Pam muttered, smiling and rolling her eyes, "right."

"We don't!"

"Sweetie, you can tell yourself and all your little school-friends that all you want, but don't think that you can honestly trick a mother regarding her daughter's affections; it's just not done!"

"I've found what I wanted!" Sam nearly yelled, desperate to change the subject. "Let's go."

"Huh, clueless," Pamela murmured, heading after her daughter for the checkout.

As soon as Sam reached the checkout counter, her ears caught two familiar voices that she hadn't counted on hearing.

"Johnny, please, just pay him! We don't need to cause a scene!"

Sam's head swiveled to the side and locked on to none other than Kitty and Johnny 13, the latter holding a swanky-looking necklace in his hand inside the mall's jewelry store.

"Hm, some people just can't go anywhere in public without causing a fuss," Mrs. Manson commented.

'_You have no idea,'_ thought Sam, reaching into her backpack for her cellphone and dialing a number she had known since the third grade.

"Why pay good money?" inquired Johnny. "We'll just do this the old-fashioned way. Shadow,** attack!**"

To anyone who wasn't a ghost or ghost hunter, it was very shocking to see a slimy, green-eyed blob of a shadow rise from the ground and take on its own form. It grabbed the store's cashier and threw him out of the establishment and into a nearby popcorn stand. No one needed any bidding to get out of there ASAP, as the two Manson women soon found themselves the only people left, besides the unconscious cashier.

"Ghosts?" questioned Pam. "We'd better call the Fentons!" She reached into her purse for her own cellphone.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Mom!" Sam grabbed her mother's cell and jammed it into her backpack. "We'd better take cover instead!" She ducked down beside the front of the counter and her matriarch quickly followed suit; the both laid down quietly on their stomachs and observed the otherworldly duo, and their shade of a lackey.

"You can never just lay low, can you?" asked Kitty, as Johnny swiped a few more sparkly accessories.

"Laying low is your style, not mine, now let's get outta here!" Johnny grabbed his girlfriend by the wrist and ran out of the small enterprise, his Shadow trailing behind. They never even made it to the mall entrance when a green blast shot through the glass doors, struck Johnny in the chest and knocked him to the tiled floor.

Johnny rose slowly, his chest aching from the pressure and his eyes met with those of the white-haired, black-jumpsuited ghost boy, Danny Phantom.

"Think again, punk!" Danny said, and cast a glance Kitty's way that said, _'Stay out of the way_._' _The green-haired girl readily complied and moved back against the wall.

'_He must be getting faster,'_ thought Sam, _'I couldn't have called him more than a minute ago.'_

"Aw, dude, don't you ever take a day off?" asked Johnny, rising to his feet.

"I was, actually, but then I got a tip that you were causing a scene again." Danny looked behind Johnny to one of the clothes stores. Johnny followed his gaze and saw Sam waving gingerly from her hiding spot and grinning at him.

"Oh, so your girlfriend called you in," muttered Johnny.

"**She's/I'm not my/his girlfriend!**" Both Sam and Danny shouted in unison, earning a strange look from Mrs. Manson.

"Whatever, let's just get this over with," decided Johnny. "And I've got something new to show you…"

"What? You're going to start showering regularly?" shot Danny.

"No! I mean…**crud!** Shadow, get over here!" The semi-formless creature obeyed and took its place facing Danny in front of its master.

Johnny tensed his body, like he was bracing for something and clutched at his head as his entire body starting to glow an eerie, dark green.

"Uh, Johnny," Kitty spoke up, sounding nervous, "are you sure you should be doing this?"

"Not now, baby, I'm concentrating!" grunted Johnny, fighting to keep his eyes open and maintain focus on whatever it was he was doing.

The biker's glowing, green irises started dilating; they kept getting small and smaller as the whites of his eyes grew and flooded over the green and black of his irises and pupils. As this was happening, his ghostly glow expanded out from his form, growing larger and larger until it was at least twice the size of his body.

All of a sudden, two white beams shot out of Johnny's eyes, and stopped in midair a few feet beside his Shadow, who was watching attentively like the other four attendants. Then the green glow of Johnny's body began leaving Johnny to surround the beams still shooting from his eyes. In mere seconds, all but the faint glow Johnny usually possessed was gone and waving around the white eye beams like it was attracted to the light.

Johnny ceased the eye beams, and promptly dropped to his knees from exhaustion, but grinning up at the two lights that seemed to be mingling together. Suddenly there was a huge flash, and all had to shield their eyes, while the Shadow had to dive for cover to avoid being wiped out.

When the flash ended and Danny's eyes re-adjusted, he saw before him the fruit of Johnny's labour. Before him was a being with the same shape as the greasy ghost's Shadow but instead of darkness, consisted of pure light, switching between the dark green and clear white that Johnny had contributed, and stood, or floated, at least ten feet tall. It seemed to be growling quietly at Danny, already identifying him as his master's enemy.

Johnny's Shadow slowly resumed his post beside the light creature, cautiously as it didn't appear to trust the bright aura emanating from it, and faced Danny with a primitive look of triumph.

"Well, runt, _pant_, meet my new hired hand, _gasp_." Johnny's breath was staggered as he introduced his creation. "Now, _wheeze_, I have Shadow, _pant_, and 'Flare'. **Rip him to pieces!**"

Shadow and Flare roared in massive, echoed bellows as they charged at their adolescent target, now up against two opponents, one of which Danny had no idea how to fight.

"Oh, crap."

* * *

The Parasite's ghost had spent nearly two hours searching this 'Ghost Zone', and hadn't found anything that even looked like a way back to Earth, and worse, he now had the ghostly Police searching for him for not having proper registration. Was it his fault that he remembered, like, a fifth of his life? 

He managed to escape the cops, nothing a little ectoplasmic energy absorption hadn't been able to handle, and he also discovered something new about his powers, something that he was sure he hadn't had in his former life. When he sucked the energies of the guards through his hands, he found that he could change his appearance. He could perfectly mimic those that he absorbed, right down to their clothes, eyes and voice, and just like when he was alive, he gained their powers, thoughts and memories, the last of the three now coming in handy for his pilgrimage through the Ghost Zone. However, he knew he would have to act fast; ghost or not, the energies he absorbed were temporary and he needed them if he wanted a way out of this place.

The Parasite began sorting through the different doors, using the guards' knowledge to make out who each one belonged to. So far he'd gone across Ember McLean's and Desiree's doors, Sydney Poindexter's out-of-date school and Skulker's island, with no real chance of a course back to Earth. That was when he found one that seemed promising.

Like many others, it was a deathly, metallic, purple door, this one having a circular eye mark carved into the middle with thin streaks streaming out from the different points around the circumference. He racked his brains, and those of the guards, to find its owner and quickly discovered it.

_Nicolai Technus_: A green-skinned, long, mullet-haired ghost, recently upgraded and always sporting sunglasses, that had the ability to control any matter of technology and manipulate it to his whims. But he usually used the different tidbits of electronics to fashion himself a working body, which usually didn't work out too well.

He entered the levitating door, and gazed inside, instantly surprised at how much room one of these smallish doors could house. Inside were thousands of gadgets, implements, gears and doodads strewn across dusty tables, the walls were covered with different photos of the tech-based ghost, obviously having a high opinion of himself, and the odd pictures of a white-haired teenage boy, most of those having darts pierced into them in frustration.

Although the boy caught Parasite's attention for some reason, he forced himself to concentrate on finding anything that could send him home. It was amazing how much junk this Technus had cluttered in his lair: ecto-gun, ghost shield, face-to-ratio ecto-rifle with a 40-watt range, the list went on and on, and the ex-janitor still couldn't find anything that seemed remotely useful.

"Hey, what are you doing in my lair?" a nasally voice demanded.

Parasite twisted around and came face-to-face with a very irritated Nicolai Technus. Wasting no time, the former Rudy Jones jumped him and brought his hands to the tech spirit's neck.

"Hey, what do you think you're-you're…_you're_…" Technus trailed off as both electric and ectoplasmic powers were siphoned out of his system and drained into Parasite's.

Technus lost consciousness in a matter of seconds and Parasite dropped him haphazardly to the floor, now having all that he needed. For the spiritual sycophant now possessed not only Nicolai's domain over technology, but almost every ounce of his knowledge and experience. And with those two qualities, he knew what he required to return to the human plain.

Sorting through the cornucopia of remotes, weapons and appliances, Parasite revealed his salvation: _The Tech-Hopper_, a sleek, black remote that when fired at any mechanism can open a portal to Earth through any other mechanism of the same basic construction. Parasite also discovered that it had already been set to a mall TV inside a place called Amity Park.

Parasite looked back around at the different posters of the white-haired boy that Technus seemed obsessed about, many of the posters read, _'The Ghost Boy of Amity Park.'_ Parasite searched the memories he had taken and quickly established the Ghost Boy's identity. A hero of a ghost-no, wait! - Half-ghost; somehow this boy was both living and dead and seemed to be causing a lot of trouble for Parasite's 'donor.'

Hero…why did that word stick in his mind?

A blur passed through Parasite's head, of a red cape and an…S? A man had worn those, hadn't he? A large man...with short, black hair and a blue uniform-wearing-wearing the S on his chest and the red cape behind him.

But no, that didn't make any sense. Still, this Ghost Boy posed an interest for him; maybe he was worth checking out, so why not go through with Technus' plan and send himself to Amity Park through a TV?

He looked around for a television that he could use and spotted a small, portable one leaning against a battered microwave. He aimed the Tech-Hopper at the mini-TV and fired, instantaneously finding himself being compressed and dragged towards the small screen until he disappeared completely; leaving only the mess of machinery and a weakened Technus behind.

* * *

Everything around Parasite flew by as he was transferred from one television to the other until he saw the dim light coming from the other screen. He wasn't about to blow up his victory of escape by being captured so he used the experience of the guards and Technus; flexed the proper muscles and turned himself invisible before he exited the mall TV. 

_Light_, it was almost blinding, but so warm and inviting after his time in the lifeless Ghost Zone. It took several moments for his small, white eyes to adjust to the brightness and once done, he realized he didn't have far to go to find the Ghost Boy.

Parasite was on the second level just outside the electronics store and there were huge crashes and the sounds of battle down below him. Staying invisible, he floated to the edge of the floor and looked down onto the scene.

Below him were seven people, not counting a knocked-out cashier lying on an over-turned popcorn dispenser. Two were human, and if he had to guess he'd say that they were mother and daughter; a quick delve into Technus' memories informed him that the younger of the two was an ally of the Ghost Boy.

The other five were all ghosts, even he could tell that. One was a blonde, long-haired biker punk dressed in a trench-coat and looking contented but tired; another was a green-haired, red leather-wearing girl on the sidelines with an uncertain expression on her small face. Two of the others had the same basic shape but looked to be polar opposites as one was totally black and the other was a much larger, pure white entity with an odd string of green pulsing through it. These two seemed to be enjoying themselves by pounding on the last ghost, the infamous Ghost Boy.

"Shadow and Flare, huh?" said the Ghost Boy, dodging a swipe from the light monster. "Did you come up with that yourself, Johnny, or did Kitty have to go through a dictionary for you?" Danny then noted that his Ghost Sense had gone off, but dismissed it as a late warning for Johnny's two cronies.

"Hey, what's wrong with Flare? Short, sweet and to the point, just like me...minus the short part," Johnny explained, quite happy with his 'children.'

The Parasite listened to their exchanges of witty banter while he watched the fight between the three ghosts; his attention becoming more and more consumed by the green-eyed Ghost Boy. As the teenager evaded a thrashing from the Shadow, more images began flooding Parasite's mind, of another person fighting, or was it another person?

The Ghost Boy suddenly blasted back the Shadow and then delivered an uppercut to the 'Flare', initiating another torrent of images into the Parasite. He recalled fighting with someone as the Shadow and Flare fought with the Ghost Boy now; he remembered being beaten by... the red caped man with the red S, but, no, that still didn't make any sense to him.

Flare let loose with an earsplitting screech that forced everyone present to shield their ears; the power unleashed through the sound vibrations collided with the store the two women were in, and the ceiling above them began to cave in.

"**Sam!**" Ghost Boy cried; he rocketed forward, bowling through the Shadow that tried to block his path and landed in the store, grabbed on to the women and made all three of them intangible to escape the descending crash.

He then flew them out away from the rubble and set them down a few feet away. At that moment, time seemed to freeze for Parasite as it dawned on him.

He knew why the Ghost Boy intrigued him; he'd seen him before, fought with him, hadn't he? Yes...yes, of course he had! The red caped, S-man must be some dream or an old figment of his imagination, for it was this child that he knew.

His warped brain slowly erased the likeness of the S-man and replaced him with someone else.

The red cape and blue uniform faded and were traded for a simple black jumpsuit with grayish-white gloves, boots and waistband.

The short, black hair decompiled and reformed into a semi-messy head of snowy white hair on a much younger head.

The small, dark eyes shifted into larger, glowing green orbs, shimmering with youth and adolescent determination.

And the red S modified, becoming smaller and reshaping, until the red disappeared into clear white and the S was left as a D, specially written to have a minute P inside of it.

The Ghost Boy, Danny Phantom; it had to be a fake name, for now he knew the true character of this figure; he always would as this was the man that he had spent a lifetime hating, and would spend an after-lifetime seeking his destruction.

"_Superman..."

* * *

_

_Interesting idea, huh? Parasite being so twisted up that he thinks DP is the Man of Steel. You like? If so, or even if you don't, please tell me; I wanna know._

_Those of you who watch JLU probably know that Parasite was frozen by Killer Frost before being blown up by Darkseid on Luthor's hip, so that's where the 'ice' comes from earlier in the story. _

_I'm so sorry that this took so long! I wanted it up like two weeks ago, but my workload coupled with my rejected ideas kinda threw me off course. _

_I'd like to apologize for those who voted for 'Mirror Master' in MR's poll; I tried writing a chapter for him, but it was just too difficult. But I should be able to write him in somewhere; I already have a workable idea for the Trickster._

_But wow! I only planned for this chapter to be one part, not two! Geez! Hopefully, the second part won't take as long to get up! Oh, and my request still stands; if you have any DC villain that you want to see here just write it in with a review and I'll see what I can do._


End file.
